After eluding the police dragnet for long, Sarmistha Rout, the prime accused in the sensational murder case of cameraman Manas Swain, was arrested by the Crime Branch on Monday.
Along with Sarmistha, her aide Jhuna Bhoi was also arrested from Nalanga of Bhadrak district. The duo was arrested by joint teams of the Crime Branch and Bhadrak police.
Both Sarmistha and Jhuna were returning to the State from Kolkata in a bus when they were nabbed. Sarmistha had spent a few days in Kolkata and Guwahati.
Later, both accused were produced in the Chandbali JMFC Court. The Crime Branch sought the court permission for ten days’ remand for Sarmistha, her associate and five more persons arrested earlier in connection with the case. The court allowed a five-day remand from Tuesday.
Sarmistha is the owner of a web channel where cameraman Manas worked.
Manas, a resident of Godipokhari village in Ranpur of Nayagarh district had gone missing on February 7. He had come to Palaspur in Bhadrak district from Bhubaneswar on a shooting assignment for a marriage function when he was abducted, taken to a room at Sarmistha’s Dayal Ashram in Bhubaneswar and assaulted. Later, his body was disposed of in Nayagarh.
According to police, Manas was severely thrashed, following which he died. The Chandbali police recovered his body from Badhipatna hills in Rajsunakhala area of Nayagarh on March 12.
Earlier, six persons including former Odisha Information Service (OIS) officer Niranjan Sethi and Sarmistha’s brother Parameswar had been arrested in connection with the case.